Sunday, July 29, 2012

2012 Lunar Science Forum talks now online

Recorded sessions during the recently-held 2012 Lunar Science Forum have been uploaded and are now available online

The NASA Lunar Science Institute, at Moffett Field, California, made the widely anticipated announcement Sunday, July 29.

The 2012 NASA Lunar Science Forum was perhaps the best yet! If you missed the three-day meeting (July 17-19, 2012) at NASA Ames Research Center or if you just want to relive some of the best talks, the public Adobe Connect sessions are now available online at: http://lunarscience.arc.nasa.gov/lsf2012/agenda

More than 300 scientists attended the fifth NASA Lunar Science Forum, sponsored by the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) at Ames Research Center. With data analysis from five U.S. spacecraft currently studying the Moon, plus several others that completed their missions in recent years, discoveries and advancements abound.

“The NLSI catalyzes collaborative research within and among its seven teams, but also strives to include and support the broader lunar science community in a variety of ways,” said Yvonne Pendleton, Director of the NLSI.

In his summary review of the conference, distinguished planetary scientist David Kring of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston said “We have made more progress in three years with the NLSI than was made in the previous 30 years of lunar studies, but a lot of questions remain unanswered that require a return to the lunar surface, using both robot and human explorers.”

In addition to discussing science results, the Forum attendees also focused their attention on the future. NASA officials praised the performance of the current NLSI and announced an expansion of the charter to allow additional emphasis on research that will support both science and exploration. In NASA organizational terms, this means a closer alliance between the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and the NASA Human Exploration and Operations Directorate (HEOMD).

The joint presentation at the Forum by NASA Associate Administrators John Grunsfeld (SMD) and William Gerstenmaier (HEOMD) outlined their rationale for the expansion of the Institute, providing insight into the new era of enhanced collaboration between science and exploration.

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